A leader of one drug company is noting that doctors could be alerted to suspicious habits of patients through pills that send data to phones, perhaps helping the country reduce drug abuse.

“We’ve reached a point in society where new sensors, new software and new mobile devices – phones and such — are really supercharging medicine in unprecedented ways,” says Dr. George Savage, a co-founder of Proteus Digital Health, a startup health company located near San Francisco.

Savage said Wednesday during an opioid commission meeting that the company could create a digital opioid to “give your doctor the ability — for the first time — to dynamically measure pain, allowing new insights and better treatment decisions.”

Drug overdoses, most of which involve opioids, now kill more people than gun homicides and auto crashes combined, according to the opioid commission.

“We’ve developed a platform… that allows your medicine when you swallow it to automatically talk to your cellphone after it’s been swallowed,” Savage says.

The technology involves an “ingestible sensor” and would allow each tablet to be tracked on a pill-by-pill basis, he says.

Tracking usage could also help show if medicine is being passed from patients to other people, Savage said.

Savage says a mobile app displays details for you and your doctor about how medicines are being taken. Doctors can use that information to see if you need more attention.

Similarly, so-called smart pill bottles were previously created to help remind people when to take their prescriptions. Those can also alert doctors and caregivers, such as family members.

Other company executives say they’re making major changes to address the opioid crisis, such as by creating alternative drugs that aren’t as addictive as opioids.

A leader of one drug company is noting that doctors could be alerted to suspicious habits of patients through pills that send data to phones, perhaps helping the country reduce drug abuse.

“We’ve reached a point in society where new sensors, new software and new mobile devices – phones and such — are really supercharging medicine in unprecedented ways,” says Dr. George Savage, a co-founder of Proteus Digital Health, a startup health company located near San Francisco.